The medical and social importance of mental and behavior disorders among military personnel in peacetime and warfare

In: Romanian Journal of Military Medicine, Band 124, Heft 4, S. 481-487

Abstract

Introduction. The considerable numbers of servicemen who have applied for psychiatric help and who have been discharged for mental health from the Armed Forces of Ukraine testify the need to revise the whole system of providing psychiatric, psychomedical, and social aid to servicemen in warfare. Purpose. To identify medical and social aspects of mental and behavioral disorders among servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in peacetime and warfare for justification the developing and implementing the system of psychomedical care in Ukrainian Defense Forces with NATO standards adaptation. Methods. A retrospective analysis of statistical data on the level, structure, dynamics of the overall incidence rate of mental disorders as well as hospitalized morbidity among the military personnel of Ukrainian Armed Forces and health status dismissal based on long-term observation data (2008-2017) as well as comparison of indicators of the period 2008-2013 and 2014-2017 based on official statistical reporting has been performed. The statistical processing of the sample results was carried out using descriptive statistics and analysis of alternative characteristics. Results. It was discovered that in the structure of the total incidence of mental disorders among the military personnel of Ukrainian Armed Forces on class F (ICD-10) for the period of 2014-2017 years there was a significant redistribution of all categories of military personnel in comparison with 2008-2013 (among officers as well as contract servicemen, the overall incidence rate of mental disorders decreased dependably). The proportion of disorders of adult personality and behavior with other syndromes (F50-F99) significantly increased due to a significant decrease of neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform complaints cases. Conclusions. The overall incidence rate of mental disorders, as well as hospitalized morbidity within the structure of overall incidence rate of diseases in 2008-2017 for officers and contract servicemen, significantly increased with peak values in 2015 (p≤0.001) with further decreasing in 2016-2017 years, but among conscripts - remained unchanged. It has been established that starting from 2014, the indicators of discharges among officers have tended to increase with the maximum rates in 2015 (compared to 2013 by 7 times higher) and contract servicemen in 2016 (compared to 2013 by 5.3 times higher) with a further decrease. The identified features of mental health disorder in servicemen and their consequences according to long-term observation (both in peacetime and in warfare) are the keysto the development and implementation of the proposed psychomedical care system in defense forces readapted to NATO standards.